Co Risk
- Date: 2008-11-23 - Word Count: 448
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Carbon monoxide is heavily poisonous to humans, and a carbon monoxide gas leak in your home can be deadly. Every year there are a number of deaths and injuries all over the world that could have been avoided with a regular boiler service. There are also a number of gas detection devices that could stop a tragedy happening.
Carbon monoxide is one molecule of carbon bonded with one molecule of oxygen. It is high poisonous and is produced by any fossil fuel burning appliance, one of the reasons why it is so dangerous is because it is practically undetectable for humans. It comes from leaks from heating flues and cooking and heating appliances when they have been poorly maintained, or if they happen to break down badly. Carbon monoxide can escape from flues that have inadequate ventilation or blocked, but bad weather can cause fatal leaks.
Carbon monoxide is dangerous because when we breathe it in the haemoglobin in our blood can carry carbon monoxide instead of the oxygen that we need to live. When we breathe in carbon monoxide, therefore, it effectively causes us to suffocate whilst still breathing. Another danger is that it takes a long time to be expelled from our system, thus small leaks can build up over times until they reach quantities big enough to kill us. The symptoms of early carbon monoxide poisoning can be headaches, nausea and dizziness and are sometimes misdiagnosed as flu.
The good news is that there are only around 200 reported deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in the UK every year. Some statistics suggest that the real number is significantly higher, but there are many non-fatal incidents. As usual, those most at risk are young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with respiratory problems.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is difficult to detect because of its similarities to other illnesses. It may be worth asking if others in your home are feeling unwell, and if you feel significantly better when you leave it for a period of time, it might be worth getting an expert in. Also, your GP can give you a carboxyhaemoglobin test which will measure the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively rare, and there is one of two very simple things that you can do to ensure against it. Make sure that your boiler is serviced regularly by a professional organisation such as British Gas. You do not need to be serviced every month, once a year should be enough if it is done thoroughly and correctly. This will also ensure that your system is functioning at optimum efficiency and will make sure your money goes as far as it can.
Carbon monoxide is one molecule of carbon bonded with one molecule of oxygen. It is high poisonous and is produced by any fossil fuel burning appliance, one of the reasons why it is so dangerous is because it is practically undetectable for humans. It comes from leaks from heating flues and cooking and heating appliances when they have been poorly maintained, or if they happen to break down badly. Carbon monoxide can escape from flues that have inadequate ventilation or blocked, but bad weather can cause fatal leaks.
Carbon monoxide is dangerous because when we breathe it in the haemoglobin in our blood can carry carbon monoxide instead of the oxygen that we need to live. When we breathe in carbon monoxide, therefore, it effectively causes us to suffocate whilst still breathing. Another danger is that it takes a long time to be expelled from our system, thus small leaks can build up over times until they reach quantities big enough to kill us. The symptoms of early carbon monoxide poisoning can be headaches, nausea and dizziness and are sometimes misdiagnosed as flu.
The good news is that there are only around 200 reported deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in the UK every year. Some statistics suggest that the real number is significantly higher, but there are many non-fatal incidents. As usual, those most at risk are young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with respiratory problems.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is difficult to detect because of its similarities to other illnesses. It may be worth asking if others in your home are feeling unwell, and if you feel significantly better when you leave it for a period of time, it might be worth getting an expert in. Also, your GP can give you a carboxyhaemoglobin test which will measure the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively rare, and there is one of two very simple things that you can do to ensure against it. Make sure that your boiler is serviced regularly by a professional organisation such as British Gas. You do not need to be serviced every month, once a year should be enough if it is done thoroughly and correctly. This will also ensure that your system is functioning at optimum efficiency and will make sure your money goes as far as it can.
Related Tags: boilers
Alice Spings is author of this article on Boilers. Find more information about Boilers here.
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